Kailey's Story
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: 25 years after Claire first step foot in Care-a-lot, all Kailey Richardson wants to be is a Care Bear. But when certain things happen, she finds out she's the only one that can find Oopsy Bear after he's been missing for 10 years. But why?
1. The Exception

"Momma, can we go to the park now? You promised."

A simple question deserved a simple answer, however for Kailey Richardson, some answers never came. Today was one of those days.  
Her mother, a lovely woman with auburn hair, had been submerged into the world of tax bills and couldn t find a way out. Kailey did all in her power to get her mother s attention, even if it meant annoying the life out of her.  
"Kailey, I'm busy. You know that. Please sweetie, go play in your room until I'm done." Kailey's mother said, not even looking up. Kailey huffed impatiently, but did as she was told nonetheless. She marched prudently up to her room and flopped down onto her bed.  
Kailey surveyed her room as she lay on her bed, and came across her bookshelf. After discussing to herself whether she should get a book or not, Kailey finally got off of her bed and walked over to the bookshelf. Now, Kailey couldn't read most words that were beyond her reading level and a lot of the books she had lacked pictures for some reason. But there was one book that she had memorized, start to finish. It was a book her mother had made her a year ago for her birthday.  
The little girl gingerly got the book out from the shelf, grabbed a stuffed teddy bear from the window sill, and sat down on her bed.  
"Ollie, have I ever told you about the Caring Kingdom?" she asked the teddy bear. She made the teddy shake its head no.  
"I feared that." She said. "Good thing we have time to tell it." Kailey smiled at the teddy and opened up the front cover of the book. It had such a beautiful illustrations that even if Kailey hadn't had memorized the entire book, she could easily guess what was going on.  
"The Caring Kingdom is a world where marvelous creatures called the Care Bears, and Care Bear Cousins live. No day has a dull moment there, and no one is ever sad for long. The Care Bears and Cousins leave their paradise on occasion to go down to Earth to help a human child with their troubles. Very rarely, do children ever need aid from the Care Bears and Cousins more than once. But, with every rule, there is an exception."

Kailey smiled at the text, then at Ollie.  
"I'm going to be that exception Ollie." She told the toy. "I'm not sure how, but one of these days I m going to go to the Caring Kingdom and stay there."

Kailey paused for a moment like the teddy bear was talking to her.  
"Well, I'll take you with me. And all the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins will be there. I won't be completely alone..."

Kailey paused again, given the teddy a moment to speak.  
"Mommy won't mind if I'm gone. She didn't notice the other day when I stole those cookies from the cookie jar..."

Ollie was given a moment to express his opinion.  
"Well Daddy caught me, but it wasn t Mommy though!"

Ollie was given a chance to express his opinion again, but before Kailey could talk back to him, her mother came into her room.  
"Okay Kailey, we can go to the park now. I FINALLY got the bills caught up enough."

"Can I take Ollie, Mommy?"

Kailey's mother smiled.  
"Of course. We wouldn't let Ollie be left out of the fun."


	2. The Kid at the Park

Kailey swung herself on the swings with Ollie in tight grip in her hand, daydreaming in a starry spaced way of nothing in particular. The kids at the playground where loud and rowdy; she hated being loud and rowdy.  
Suddenly, someone not far from her started to cry. Kailey cocked her head toward the source of the sound, and looked at Ollie. She gave the teddy a shrug and followed the noise to the source. She found a kid a little older than her holding his knee in pain, moaning a rather pitiful tone.  
"Are you alright?" Kailey gently asked. The kid looked up at her and snarled.  
"I don't need your help." He said before moaning in pain again.  
"You're hurt." Kailey said simply. "You need someone's help."

"I don't need your help." The kid repeated, groaning more painfully now.  
"Then if you won t receive MY help," Kailey said, putting a hand on her hip since the other held Ollie, "Then you need the Care Bear's help."

The kid looked at her in a rather nasty glare.  
"The Care Bears?" he asked doubtfully. "And what on earth are they going to do for me? Care?"

"Yes." Kailey bluntly said. "And if they won't, I will."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

Kailey looked around and saw a water fountain. She walked over to it and dug around in her messenger backpack for a cup to fill it up. She walked back over to the kid and carefully poured water of the area where the kid had been holding, his knee. From her backpack she got out a band aid and a small hand towel to wipe away the water that hadn t run down his leg.  
"Why on earth do you have a towel in there?" the kid asked.  
"I collect odd things in my bag." Kailey explained. "Just in case."

"That's weird."

"I'm unique, so I do unique things."

After she applied the band aid, Kailey stepped back to admire her handiwork. Even the kid was slightly impressed, but not by much. Kailey wasn't allowed to have Neosporin until she was 10, so he was still in some pain.  
"Thanks." He groaned as he stood up. Kailey smiled as she held Ollie tight. "Thanks for caring." Kailey smiled a bit wider, and left to go back to her mother who was calling for them to go home. The kid watched her leave, then he turned his direction toward a bush that was beside him.  
"Why did you wait so long? I knew you were the whole time. She might not have though..."

"She can't see me... or any of us to be honest." The bush said.  
"Why? She's just a girl."

A small bear with pink fur stepped out of the bush. It was Cheer Bear of the Care Bears.  
"She's... different... than most girls..." Cheer said, looking at the ground in an embarrassed way.  
"How different?"

Cheer looked up at the kid without smiling.  
"Almost as different as you are William."


	3. Ollie's Missing!

Kailey lay contently in her bed, almost about to drift off into sleep. Her mother was at the door of the bedroom, about to turn off the light.  
"Good night Kailey." She said softly.  
"Good night Mommy." Kailey responded with a yawn. Kailey's mother smiled, shut off the light, and softly shut the door behind her. As Kailey's mother got back downstairs, the phone rang and she answered it.  
"Hello?" Kailey's mother said into the phone. "Oh, hello Cher! I haven't heard from you in a while. Anything new?"

A rather frantic voice told Kailey's mother something that made her face grow pale quickly.  
"What?" she asked, greatly surprised. "I knew he left but... Kailey s father? He's on a business meeting until Friday. Why are you...?"

The person on the other end gave frantic replies and sketchy answers.  
"Oh..." Kailey's mother groaned. "I haven't told her yet..." (The person on the other end screeched in surprise and outrage.) "Yeah, well, you're her godparent. You're ALL her godparents, why don't you tell her?"

The person on the other end gave a reply.  
"That never stopped you guys for me." Kailey's mom said softly. Both the caller and Kailey s mother were silent for a few moments. Then the caller had an idea.  
"I think we can do that." Kailey's mom agreed. "Is tomorrow fine with you? Great, I'll leave it there. Good bye Cher." And with that, Kailey s mother hung up the phone and sighed heavily.

The next morning, Kailey yawned when she got up then walked downstairs for breakfast. The kitchen was warm and smelled of freshly baked pancakes.  
"Good morning sweetie." Her mother welcomed kindly as she put Kailey's plate on the table. Kailey smiled but gave a yawn in reply.  
"Sleep well then?" her mother asked with a smile. Kailey nodded as she sat down at the table to eat. After she finished eating, Kailey went back upstairs to get changed and get Ollie from her bed. But Ollie wasn t on her bed.  
Before freaking out, or otherwise overreacting, Kailey checked everywhere near her bed and where she had gone the night before. She was sure she had Ollie with her when she went to bed last night. So where was he now?  
"Mom!" Kailey pitifully moaned as she went back downstairs.  
"What's wrong dear?" her mother asked, coming to her.  
"Ollie's missing, I can t find him anywhere!"

"Did you look everywhere?"

Kailey thought about it.  
"Yes." She decided. "Because I KNOW I took him to bed with me last night and I looked everywhere in my room."

"Then I don t know where he is sweetie." Her mother said, shaking her head. Before Kailey could stop herself, she started to cry thick and fast. Not wanted her mother to see her like that, Kailey ran back up to her room with her mother shouting behind,  
"Kailey wait!" but Kailey didn t stop and she shut the bedroom door behind her. Kailey looked around her room from the doorway then ran to her bed and cried some more. Where did Ollie go?


	4. Nothing's Ever Lost Forever

Kailey couldn't wrap her mind around it. She'd never lost Ollie before, and he was right next to her when she went to bed the night before. Where was he now? Why did he go missing to begin with? How come she couldn't stop crying over him?  
"It's okay." Someone said, getting on her bed with her. She couldn't see how though, her face was buried in her blankets. She assumed that she was imaging the voice, it wouldn't have been the first she had imagined voices much different than hers.  
"No it's not." Kailey sniffed. "I never lost him before I may never find him again!"

"Who?" The new voice asked curiously. It seemed like a rather weird thing for her imagination to say, considering that it usually knew what was going on in her life. It was HER imagination after all.  
"Ollie Oop. He s my teddy bear. But I like calling him Ollie though."

"Don't worry," the voice encouraged, "We'll find Ollie. He won't be lost forever. Nothing is ever lost forever."

Then, a hand no larger than one of hers softly placed itself on her back in reassurance. At this, Kailey jumped a little off the bed. She was good at imagining things, but a hand on her back like that? She wasn't that good in imagining things... was she? Kailey sat up and looked at where she had heard the voice from. Next to her was a sunny yellow Care Bear with a red baseball cap and a smiling sun on his tummy. Kailey's eyes grew wide in disbelief.  
"You're a Care Bear!" she said, hardly containing her indoor voice. The Care Bear smiled, and stood up on her bed. He was taller than her this way, and she had to look up at him.  
"Funshine at your service Kailey." The bear said with a bow. Kailey was in a new world of wonder.  
"How do you know my name?" Kailey asked.  
"Best friends know everything about each other." Funshine said with a smile.  
"Wow..." Kailey said, completely entranced. She watched as Funshine laughed and hopped down from her bed.  
"C'mon, we have to find Ollie don't we?" he said, beckoning for her to come down too. Kailey absentmindedly nodded and got down from her bed as well. With both of them standing up, she realized that she was a whole head taller than Funshine.  
"Come on!" Funshine said, leading Kailey out the door. She followed him without a word right to the location where Ollie was; sitting in plain sight on top of a laundry basket that was outside the bathroom. Without a second to waste, Kailey rushed over to the teddy and hugged him tightly.  
"See?" Funshine said, "Nothing is lost forever."

Suddenly, Kailey was reminded of something.  
"Funshine do you have to leave now?"

"Do you feel you are still in need of caring help?" the bear asked. Kailey thought about it, but she must have taken too long to say whether she did or not because Funshine then said,  
"Then, yes, I have to leave."

"Don t leave!" Kailey said, "Or take me with you please!"

Funshine's face shown a mix of surprise, confusion, and (could it have been?) expectancy.  
"Why?" Funshine asked.  
"I want to be a Care Bear, and do the things that Care Bears do." Kailey told him. Funshine tried to conceal complete and udder shock, but it was still very noticeable.  
"But you're a human." Funshine said, trying to show reason. "It would be impossible..."

"No it's not." Kailey told him in a matter of fact tone. "There is a special machine that can make a human a Care Bear and the other way around!"

Who told you this? Funshine asked, flabbergasted and confused.  
"My mother." Kailey said simply. To this, Funshine gave no reaction. Kailey then started to rapidly blink her eyes and put on the most pitiful face you could have ever seen; the puppy dog pout.  
"Please?" Kailey asked politely. Funshine really didn t want to take her into Care-a-lot (for more than one reason) but he felt defeated, and called up a shower of hearts that would take them to Care-a-lot. Kailey was tickled pink.


	5. Kailey in Care a lot

Kailey was ecstatic to be in Care-a-lot, but Funshine wouldn't let her venture. He was afraid. Of what, Kailey wasn't sure, but he was afraid of something. Curiosity getting the best of her, Kailey wondered into a workshop-looking place when she thought that Funshine wasn't looking.  
Inside the workshop was a gray blue Care Bear that was underneath a cloud car, making repairs.  
"Hello." Kailey said curiously. "Who are you?"

"Hi." The bear said from under the car, waving a wrench in Kailey's view to substitute for a wave. "Name's Grumpy."

Kailey giggled.  
"Hello Grumpy," Kailey greeted, formally addressing the bear. "My name is Kailey Richardson."

At the sound of her name, Grumpy stopped working and quickly came out from under the cloud car to look at her. At first look he grew pale, and pointed his wrench at her.  
"You can't be here! Why are you here!" he asked, slightly frantic.  
"Funshine brought me." Kailey said with a smile, oblivious to Grumpy s frantic manner. At that cue, Funshine entered Grumpy's workshop, relieved he had found Kailey. Grumpy's attention turned to Funshine.  
"What... did you... do?" Grumpy asked, steam nearly blowing out of his ears to show how angry he was.  
"Well..." Funshine sheepishly said, looking at the ground.  
"I'm gonna be a Care Bear." Kailey happily said, holding Ollie in her arms tighter in excitement.  
"What?" Grumpy asked her like it was the most ridiculous thing he has ever heard.  
"I wanna be a Care Bear, and do the things that Care Bears do. I wanna be a Care Bear just like you!" Kailey told him with a smile. Grumpy gave Funshine a rather unamused and nasty glare.  
"Does Cheer know what you did?" he asked.  
"Well... I know that she doesn't know that she's here EXACTLY, but I do know that she and Share have been talking about bringing her."

"And when was this decision reached?"

"Yesterday."

Grumpy smacked his forehead in disbelief.  
"Come on," Grumpy said, heading toward the door, "We're going to see what in Care-a-lot Cheer was thinking..."

Funshine beckoned for Kailey to come to after Grumpy passed him, and she obliged. The two bears led Kailey to a rather cheery looking house decked out with different variations of rainbows. Kailey had to gasp in awe as they got closer to the building. Grumpy roughly knocked on the door, and they waited a moment before a pink Care Bear with a rainbow on her tummy answered.  
"Oh, hello Funshine, Grumpy, and... oh... dear..." she said as her gaze shifted from Funshine to Grumpy to Kailey. Her gaze stayed on Kailey.  
"So you aren't aware of this." Grumpy said, folding his arms. Cheer shook her head, still looking at Kailey.  
"Can we come in then?" Grumpy then asked. Cheer nodded and let them in, not once putting her gaze off of Kailey.  
Once they had gotten Kailey to sit down on Cheer's couch with some cookies and milk, they went into the bedroom to discuss the dilemma.  
"She looks so much like..." Cheer started but was cut off by Grumpy.  
"Yeah, it's a obvious." He said, very ticked off.  
"What do we do though?" Funshine asked. "She thinks that she's going to be a Care Bear..."

"She wanted us to teach her everything..." Cheer said softly, reminding them of an earlier task. Grumpy was hit with an idea.  
"And we will." He said. "She never said we couldn't compromise."

Funshine and Cheer looked at him like he had lost his marbles. But he went on to explain his plan and they found it rather ingenious.


	6. The Hall of Hearts

"Alright Kailey," Cheer Bear instructed like she was a military sergeant, "The first thing of becoming a Care Bear is to learn the history of the Care Bears itself."

"Oh." Kailey said, holding Ollie tightly in excitement. "Does this mean that we're going to have story time?"

Cheer stood in her tracks, having not considered that before. Kailey was only 6, she wasn t the most adept reader yet.  
"Yes, I guess it would be story time."

"Hooray!" Kailey said, jumping up a little with joy. Share Bear (who was sitting with Grumpy and Funshine on a nearby bench) giggled a little at Kailey s eagerness.  
"But, before we have story time, we need to go to the place where all the history of Care-a-lot is stored."

"Where?" Kailey curiously asked.  
"The Hall of Hearts." Cheer said, smiling wide. Kailey's eyes grew wide with excitement. The others didn't look as happy.

The Hall of Hearts, once one of the most glorious sights in the Kingdom of Caring, was crumbling to nothing more than rubble. No one wanted to put the time into rebuilding it. The last living being to want to care for the Hall had grown up (being the human she was) and no one stepped in her place. Now, all the paint had faded from the exterior and the door was forever open ajar to anyone who could get in. Open to anyone that wanted to steal the Care Bear s history. When Kailey first laid eyes on the Hall of Hearts, she was both terrified and awestruck. The exterior of the building was just that empowering.  
It took the combined efforts of Grumpy and Funshine to open the door. Cheer led the way inside to a large room with a heart shaped table in the center. Many chairs surrounded the table, some were knocked over like an earthquake had passed through while some chairs has rubble from the roof on the seat. Behind the table and chairs were bookshelves as high at the roof itself, and as wide as the building as well. Cheer walked Kailey and the other Care Bears up to the bookshelves and proceeded to look on the shelves for something.  
Funshine, Share, and Grumpy looked around the room, remembering the times they had had in the Hall of Hearts. So many forgotten memories, it was no wonder that no Care Bear usually ventured in. Kailey's attention was drawn toward a book that has five shelves above her. It looked newer than most of the books next to it, and it looked rather familiar...

"My mommy made me a book just like that one." Kailey said, tucking Ollie under one arm and pointing to the book with the other. Cheer looked at Kailey, then changed her direction toward the book. Cheer then used her Belly Badge to get the book down and looked at it.  
"Of course your mother would have given you this book..." Cheer said softly, almost smiling a bit.  
"Why?" Kailey curiously asked, getting closer to Cheer.  
"This book contains Care-a-lot's history up until a few years until you were born." Cheer said, not sure whether to be excited or worried. She already knew what the book had written in it.  
Kailey's eyes grew wide, and she accidentally dropped Ollie in surprise. She was in such a surprise, she didn't even bother picking her beloved teddy back up again.


	7. History Lesson

Cheer put the book on the heart table, then looked at Funshine, Share, and Grumpy who were still reminiscing.  
"Guys," Cheer said, trying to get their attention. "It's story time."

"Huh?" all three asked at the same time. Then they remembered why they were there in the first place and gathered around Cheer.  
"Kailey," Cheer addressed the little girl now, who had picked up Ollie again and was holding him tightly, "You said that you have to book too."

"It's not a big as this one." Kailey told Cheer.  
"I figured that," Cheer admitted, "So I want you to show us what was the last page in the book you have at home."

"If she knows what page that is." Grumpy mumbled. Kailey looked at him with a smile.  
"I memorized the entire book silly." She told him playfully. Cheer gave Grumpy a rather satisfied look that he ignored.  
Kailey opened the book and flipped through the pages. When she was an eighth through it, she stopped.  
"It ends here." She confirmed.  
Cheer reviewed the next sections of the book and sighed.  
"So she wasn't going to tell you herself..."

"Who?" Kailey asked curiously. No one answered her. Instead, Cheer flipped to the last few paragraphs of the book. She took a look at the others for their approval then at Kailey.  
"Kailey, do you understand that the Care Bears only help those in need?" Cheer asked.  
Kailey nodded.  
"Do you understand that the Care Bears are willing protect those in caring need, no matter what?" Funshine asked.  
Kailey nodded again.  
"Do you understand that Care Bears must be brave and go on no matter the danger?" Share asked.  
Kailey nodded her head once again.  
"Do you realize there is an exception to every rule?" Grumpy then asked. Kailey smiled at this.  
"I do, very much." She agreed. Cheer took a deep breath in, and one at a time the Care Bears told her the story.  
"Twenty-five years ago today, a smart and lovely 13 year old girl named Clairinda Bennett came into Care-a-lot." Cheer started.  
"Everyone liked her, and got along with her wonderfully." Funshine added.  
"But there was one Care Bear that was different." Grumpy then said, folding his arms, obviously not pleased. "His name was Oopsy."

"Oopsy and Claire had met before, when they were just a year younger than you." Share told Kailey, "They had a special fondness in their hearts for each other, and we all knew about it."

"Claire and Oopsy spent many happy days together," Cheer said, But then..."

"She grew up." Funshine finished for Cheer. "Claire grew up and stopped seeing us as often. Oopsy was devastated."

"Messed up more often too around my workshop when I got him to help." Grumpy mumbled. But his statement went ignored.  
"But when Claire announced she was to be engaged..." Share started,  
"Oopsy ran away." Cheer finished.  
"And no one's ever seen him since." Funshine added.  
"We tried looking for him," Grumpy said, "But we couldn t find him."

Kailey didn t understand most of what she was hearing, but held Ollie tight in some kind fear or expectation. They weren't even looking in the book for this information. Had they memorized the book as well? Or did they write it themselves...?  
"What do you think happened to Oopsy?" Kailey asked, a teeny bit of fear in her voice.  
"There are two theories." Funshine said.  
"Oopsy is either in some unknown part of Care-a-lot," Cheer started.  
"Or he somehow became a human and is Claire's husband without her even realizing it." Share finished.  
Kailey felt herself grow terrified, but she wasn't sure why.  
"What about Claire?" she asked. The Care Bears all looked at each other, although they had known for a long time that they had to tell her eventually. They looked back at Kailey again.  
"She's your mother." Cheer said softly.  
"And if anyone could find Oopsy if he's in Care-a-lot," Funshine started.  
"It's you." Share finished.  
Kailey was so overwhelmed by this information (and after understanding as much as she could) she fainted without any warning.


	8. Kailey Meets William

"Well... that turned out better than expected."

"And what in Care-a-lot makes you say that?"

"Claire had less graceful landings."

Kailey slowly sat up, her head pounding and Ollie still tight in her grasp. She blinked several times before looking at each other Care Bears. Funshine, Grumpy, Cheer, and Share surrounded her, they all were back at Cheer s place.  
"Are you alright?" Share asked when she saw that Kailey was up. Kailey nodded, albeit reluctantly. Share smiled and rubbed her Tummy Symbol which made a lollipop like the one on her Tummy Symbol appear in Kailey's hand.  
"Thank you." Kailey politely said before sucking on the lollipop. Share smiled warmly in response and turned her attention to Cheer, who was about to say something.  
"Kailey," Cheer addressed the little girl, "You know of Oopsy Bear and how he mysteriously disappeared. You know that your mother is Claire, a lady that was once very fond of Oopsy. You now know that if anyone can find Oopsy it's you."

Kailey nodded, her heart growing heavy for a reason she couldn t figure out.  
"However," Grumpy intervened, "All of us realize you re too young to actually anywhere alone in Care-a-lot. And we know that none of us can go find him. It HAS to be a human."

"Why?" Kailey asked.  
"Oopsy knew we would come and find him." Funshine explained. "So he did something so we can t get closer to him."

"Then who's going to help me go past the part you can't?" Kailey asked. On cue, the boy that Kailey had helped the day before at the park came into Cheer's living room. He was surprised to see her as much as she was surprised to see him.  
"Kailey, this is William." Cheer said, "William s mother, McKenna, spent time with us as well. The two of you are just a little bit different than normal kids."

"Why?" Kailey wondered.  
"We can come into Care-a-lot whenever we want." William said. "We can also invite the Care Bears over to our house whenever we want... for tea." William had said the last two words rather sarcastically; it took a moment for Kailey to realize he was kidding.  
"How?" Kailey asked. William rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and showed her a silver charm bracelet.  
"With these." He said. "They were made for our mothers, now they belong to us."

"My mommy doesn't wear that." Kailey said. "And I haven't seen anything like it in her jewelry box."

"That's because she gave it to us," Grumpy told her, "When we first told her Oopsy was missing. She thought it would help."

"And it kind of did." Share admitted with a tiny shrug.  
"But it wasn t enough." Grumpy reminded her.  
"Now," William said, speaking up, "We have the honor of going to find Oopsy."

Kailey contemplated this for a few moments.  
"Then will I get to be a Care Bear?" she asked.  
"Yes." Cheer said without hesitation.  
"Then I'll do it." Kailey agreed. Everyone in the room (except for William and Grumpy) cheered with happiness.


	9. William Tells a Secret

"The barrier is around here." William said, leading Kailey through a particularly sunny meadow. Kailey had tied Ollie's arms around her neck so both her hands could be free to do whatever and so she wouldn't worry about his safety as much. She had positioned the teddy so that he could see what was going on as well, out of common courtesy.  
William led Kailey and Ollie to a river where the water looked more like a rainbow.  
"Welcome to Rainbow River." William announced to Kailey. "On the other end, we ll find Oopsy."

"How do you know?" Kailey curiously asked as they walked down a steep hill to the river.  
"I've been this way before." William simply told her.  
"For what?" Kailey curiously asked him again. William ignored her, mostly for the purpose that they had reached the river.  
William carefully waded into the river, leaving Kailey on shore. He wanted to see how high the water would be. Kailey was only a little half his height, and if the water was too high for her to wade through, he had to carry her across the other side. The water went up to his knee, on Kailey it would have been up to her stomach. Carefully, he waded back to the shore and beckoned for Kailey to hop on his back for a piggy back ride. She obliged.  
Once the duo reached the other side, William brought Kailey to a bush that had berries on it. He plucked a few and they had a small snack.  
"We'll rest here for now." He told the little girl, "When we wake up and the sun isn't down yet, we'll continue further."

Kailey nodded and laid down in the soft grass. With Ollie still on her back, Kailey drifted off into an undisturbed sleep. She woke up to what seemed to be sunset, but William said that it was sunrise.  
"You slept all night," he explained, "I was able to find a few apples for breakfast and venture a bit further. I know someone who can take us to Oopsy directly."

"Why do you know so much?" Kailey asked him after he handed her an apple and she had bitten into it.  
William took a heavy sigh as to show that he was decided whether or not he should tell her.  
"Can you keep a secret?" he asked grudgingly. Kailey nodded, her mouth too full to speak.  
"My mother (somewhat like your mother) didn't tell me directly that she knew the Care Bears." He started to tell her. "Unlike you, who had the Care Bears themselves explain everything, I learned about them myself. Two years ago, it was raining and I was bored so I ransacked my mother's room. I found a box on a shelf in her closet and opened it up. I found the bracelet that the Care Bears had made for her. At first, she was mad at me for going through her stuff, but then she explained to me all the things the Care Bears did for her and what she did for them.  
"My mother then went on to say that the bracelet belonged to me now, due to a meeting she had with the Care Bears a few days after I was born. I could go to Care-a-lot whenever I wanted and could summon a Care Bear to my aid if they were willing."

William then let out a gruff sigh.  
"I've been everywhere in Care-a-lot, even to the places where the other Care Bears claimed they can t go. The place we're in now is one of them. This place here is close to the Forest of Feelings, where the Care Bear Cousins live. I met Oopsy last year, toward the end of summer, and he told me how he ran away to the Forest of Feelings after Claire announced her engagement with your father. He knew the other Bears couldn t find him here due to the barrier, and if Claire had tried to get him too, she couldn t have either. She had tried to find the Forest of Feelings, twice if I recall, but to little prevail."

"Why do you keep it a secret?" Kailey asked, almost finished with her apple. "The Care Bears seem so worried about him."

William closed his eyes and grinded his teeth, almost like answering that question would kill him for some reason.  
"I chose not to because Oopsy didn't want to be found. By anyone. Seeing the other Care Bears and being in Care-a-lot would have meant being reminded of Claire, and he didn't want to feel heartbroken. He was content in the Forest of Feelings, and I've kept it like that."

"William!" a purple horse called out to them when he was in view.  
"Hello Noble Heart!" William shouted back. Once the three of them where close enough, William and Noble Heart greeted each other with a hug and enlisted in some idle chatter before Noble Heart noticed Kailey.  
"And who do we have here?" Noble Heart asked nicely.  
"My name is Kailey Richardson." Kailey introduced herself. She untied Ollie around her neck and said, "And this is Ollie Oop, but I prefer it if you call him Ollie."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Kailey... and Ollie." Noble Heart greeted with a smile.  
"Noble Heart," William said, breaking up the greetings, "We need to find Oopsy. It's time he needs to get over it and come back to Care-a-lot with the other Care Bears."

Noble Heart was surprised at this rash demand, but said nothing against it.  
"He's at his house." Noble Heart said.  
"Thank you." William thanked, then went straight toward Oopsy s house. Kailey trailed behind, holding Ollie tight. Her heart was skipping a beat every now and then. She was excited, nervous, and afraid at the same time. What would Oopsy say when he saw her? Would he come back to Care-a-lot after all these years? Would he like her at all? Well, Kailey realized, there was only one way to find out


	10. Oopsy Meets Kailey

"Oopsy, open this door!" William demanded, knocking at the door long enough to make his knuckled turn tomato red. "I know you're in there!"

"I'll come out in a minute." Oopsy grudgingly said from inside the house.  
"We've been out here for five minutes! Open this door!" William continued to demand, pounding even harder now. Suddenly, the door creaked a little, then started to slowly open. A light green Care Bear was at the door, Kailey quickly noticed he didn t have a Tummy Symbol. He was different... he was unique.  
"Oh, hello William." The Bear said happily as if he wasn't trying to ignore William a few minutes ago although he was. William slowly blinked, clearly unamused.  
"You need to come back to Care-a-lot." William said, getting to the point. Oopsy looked like that wasn't the first time William had gotten to the point like that.  
"Why? Give me a good reason why!" Oopsy demanded. William shoved Kailey closer to Oopsy and he saw her for the first time. His face grew pale as he looked at her and was instantly reminded of a certain face

"Hello." Kailey greeted, oblivious to his expression. "My name's Kailey Richardson."

Slowly, Oopsy's eyes slid out of focus and he fell backward. He had fainted in shock. Kailey looked at Ollie, and made the teddy bear do the same.  
"What did you do?" she asked it like he was to blame.

After William put Oopsy down on his bed and splashed some water on his face, Kailey asked,  
"How come he doesn't have a Tummy Symbol?" she asked.  
"Belly Badge." William corrected.  
"Is there a difference?" Kailey simply put. William stared at her for a few minutes as Oopsy came to. Oopsy felt his head then looked at Kailey. He jumped a good foot in the air in surprise.  
"What's she doing here?" he exclaimed.  
"To show you that you need to get a grip and come back to Care-a-lot." William told him. Oopsy wasn't listening, his attention was on Kailey. It was rather bittersweet to see the child of Clairinda Bennett. It reminded him of the first time he saw Claire and he had to let her go. She was a human after all.  
"If you go back to Care-a-lot," William was saying to Oopsy, "You can spend all your time with Kailey. Claire had made all the Care Bears Kailey's godparents. My mom did the same thing. They both knew all of you would care for her. All of the Care Bears, including you."

Oopsy looked at William uncertain.  
"Claire didn't forget you." William assured. "She didn't forget the Care Bears at all. She wanted all of you to help raise her child like their own. She wanted YOU to help raise her child."

William knew he had struck a chord with the magic words Oopsy needed to hear. Oopsy looked back at Kailey, closed his eyes, and sighed.  
"I'll go back to Care-a-lot." He said grudgingly.  
William grinned ear to ear.


	11. Home Again

When Oopsy had set foot in Care-a-lot again, no one could quite believe the news. Their searches slowly stopped and they just assumed he was fine where ever he was. It wasn't until Oopsy tripped over a bug that launched into a domino effect into Grumpy s workshop that anyone truly believed he was back.  
At once, a welcome back party was held in Oopsy's honor in Woo-Hoo World. Everyone was having a wonderful time except for Oopsy himself. No matter what he did, or who tried to get him to do something, all his thoughts drifted to Kailey and how she (of all beings in the universe) was able to get him to come back to Care-a-lot. The Cousins all had, at some point, tried to convince him to go back to Care-a-lot (Braveheart and Noble Heart being the ones that badgered the most) but to little prevail. And the moment he saw Kailey, he saw Claire. He was reminded of why he left, and why he had to come back. Eventually, Oopsy had made up his mind; he had to go see Claire. He had to.  
"Hey Kailey!" he shouted, going over to where she was to get her attention. The little girl turned her head to look at him, her face bright and cheerful. She was having the time of her life!  
"What is it Oopsy?" Kailey happily asked. Oopsy tried his best not to think of Claire when she saw Kailey s happy face, but it looked so much like Claire's!  
"Does Claire have a job, Kailey?" Oopsy asked. Kailey thought about it.  
"No, I don't think Mommy has a job." Kailey said. "She told me that the only job she needed was to be with her lovely little girl me."

Kailey's face grew pale.  
"Oh Oopsy!" she said, suddenly breaking into tears. "I think I ran away from home! Will Mommy forgive me? I bet she doesn't know where I am!"

Oopsy smiled a little.  
"How about we bring you home. Together." He suggested. "I'm sure your mother would like to see me after so long."

Kailey held Ollie tight in anxiety and smiled at Oopsy, ready to go home now.  
Oopsy fired up the Care Bear Transporter and allowed Kailey to step through first, then he got in himself. In a shower of hearts, they arrived at the front door of Kailey's house. Kailey at once, went up to the doorbell and rang it several times. When the door opened, there was Kailey's mother looking worried. She looked down and saw Kailey, who she instantly bent down to hug.  
"Kailey, my baby! I've looked everywhere for you! Don't you ever do that again, but I'm so glad you're safe! Where were you?"

Oopsy cleared his throat, and Kailey's mother realized he was there for the first time. The mother sunk to her knees like they couldn't hold her weight anymore, her face was one of shock with a little fear mixed in.  
"Oopsy..." she said, quiet enough like she couldn t believe what she was seeing. "You were..."

"I'm not sure HOW your crazy kid did it," Oopsy said casually, "But she convinced me to come back, and here I am now."

Claire smiled and a few tears found their way into her eyes. She then hugged him and cried a little in remorse and joy.  
"I'm sorry Oopsy." She said, "If I could turn back time..."

"You wouldn't have had your lovely daughter here right now." Oopsy whispered in her ear so Kailey couldn't hear. Claire looked at Oopsy and smiled, wiping away her tears.

"Kailey!" Claire shouted to her daughter upstairs a few days later, "Come into the living room for a minute. I need to talk to you!"

"Coming Mommy!" Kailey shouted back down. Grabbing Ollie, and holding him in firm grip, Kailey bounced her way down the stairs and into the living room. There waiting for her was Grumpy and Cheer.  
"Kailey Richardson, daughter of Clairinda Bennett," Grumpy said, his voice with authority. "It is time you've received something very special. If you would come closer to receive this special item..."

Kailey obliged and Grumpy gave her a small white box. Kailey opened it and inside was a silver bracelet that had Cheer, Grumpy, Funshine, Share, and other Care Bear's Tummy Symbols as charms. Kailey squealed in surprise.  
"Mommy, this is the bracelet the Care Bears gave you!" she exclaimed.  
Claire, who was sitting behind Grumpy and Cheer, laughed. Kailey slipped the bracelet on her wrist and admired it.  
"The exact same one." Claire confirmed, smiling.  
"And," Cheer announced as well, "All of the Care Bears are happy to give you this, for finding Oopsy and bringing him back."

Cheer gave Kailey a rather large round pin with three hearts arranged in a triangle and a teddy bear head in the middle. Kailey accepted the pin but looked confused.  
"What is this?" Kailey asked, turning it over.  
"It's a Belly Badge." Grumpy told her.  
"You're an honorary Care Bear now Kailey!" Cheer added. Kailey's jaw dropped in surprise.  
"Really?" she asked, dumbstruck. Grumpy, Cheer, and her mother all confirmed this with happy smiles and nods. Kailey happily screamed, having her life s goal accomplished. Now what was she going to do?


End file.
